The Single Woman: '14 Reasons to Celebrate Your Singleness This Valentine's Day'

Happy Valentine's Day all!!! Wooohoooo! By the way, am still very much single and am enjoying where I am at. I still hear the groans of singles from all the Facebook statues to bitter comments and the excitement of couples. I groan sometimes too. I do not blame singles for feeling the sting of Valentine's day cause the media slams it in our face and the overly happy Facebook statues that are mushy does get to you at points. Today however, lets celebrate being single. I always celebrate Valentine's day with my girlfriends or sisters. Having an attitude of celebration and not self-pity really makes our day great. If you ain't feeling like celebrating....perhaps one (or a few or all) of these quotes by Mandy Hale (aka 'The Single Woman') will speak to you. She named this '14 Reasons to Celebrate your Singleness this Valentines Day'. Some of the reasons gave me the 'hey! Thats exactly how I feel!' moment. By the way, my personal favourites are number 9 and 14. To be honest, it is not always easy being single especially when most of my friends are not in that stage of life. Having said that - I have never enjoyed this stage more than now. These quotes are just a fun way to celebrate this stage of life. The reasons to celebrate your singleness this Valentine's Day is:

1. Because you're so brave, you'd rather walk alone than with someone who is unworthy of you.
2. Because you realize that you are the cake & a relationship is the icing.....& with or without the icing, a cake is still a cake.
3. Because you've created a life that you love & feel no need to be rescued from.
4. Because you pay your own bills, plan your own day, chart your own path & make your own way.
5. Because you love when you're ready......not because you're lonely.
6. Because you live life on your terms.....& you don't apologize.
7. Because you know that YOU have to learn to love you before you ask someone else to.
8. Because "good enough" isn't good enough for you.
9. Because you've decided that whether or not love ever arrives you're going to thrive.
10. Because your happiness, worth & self-confidence is not dependent on your relationship status.
11. Because you trust in God's perfect timing, you know that every moment of wait if preparing you for the one you're waiting for.
12. Because for you, settling is not an option.
13. Because you know it's no one's job to complete you, fix you, or validate you. It takes a healthy 'me' to create a healthy 'we'. 
14. Because before you're ready to wear a diamond, you want to become one.

Singleness is a journey and marriage is NOT a destination. It is just another different journey. Hale describes it as 'a wild, beautiful, colourful journey'. I believe that journey is dependent on what you choose to believe, your words and actions. Love the journey you are on....never regret not celebrating every stage of life.

Lets celebrate! 

Me :)

'What am I forgiven for?'

Psalms 103:10 – He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

I am chosen. Wait you do not get it….*pause*…..I – AM - CHOSEN. The God of the universe wants me. He chose to bestow His grace on me! I do not deserve it. None of us deserve it. If I was suppose to write my sins out…..I would be a definite candidate for a sinner. We all are. You may say “I am not a sinner. I do good things”. I’ll save you the time… ‘have you ever had a bad thought of a person or want something that is not yours?’ You may think that is nothing…..but that is the standard….anything that is bad is sin. High standards? You need to understand that because God is good, anything less than good is not what a good God should condone right? I’m currently reading a book by Ray Comfort called “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” (got to love the title!). The writer blew me away with the way he brings an understanding to the problems we have in church today. The focus is on how the Law was not given for men to save themselves (like the pharisees) but as a measure of just how desperately we need God. “The Law:

1. shows us our guilt before God and stops us from justifying ourselves.

2. brings to us the knowledge of sin.

3. defines sin and the depth of our sin. The apostle Paul didn’t even know what sin was, until the Law told him! (Romans 7:7)

4. was designed for the very purpose of bringing men and women to Christ”. The Law shows us how far we are from being righteous without Christ, therefore leading us to Christ always. 

"Do we then make void the law through faith? 

Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31)

If we did not have the Law, we would not be grateful for what Jesus did for us on that cross and how He overcame sin. The writer sums the chapter up by saying that churches should stop preaching man-centered or feel good sermons but preach the standard that God has set (yes, the Law) as a wake up call to just how much we need the grace and mercy of God. We link the Law to being bad cause the pharisees were the ‘bad guys’. But here is the thing, God used the Law to set the standard. If we did not know the standard (the Law or the right thing to do), there would be no boundaries. Boundaries keep us from drowning. 'God's moral laws are not abolished by the gospel of Christ. Rather, the whole plan of salvation, including Christ's obeying the Law for us and dying to pay the penalty for our breaking the law, shows that God's moral standards are eternally valid' (from NKJV study bible). Hell’s best kept secret is that the Law needs to be preached for people to understand true repentance. 

When God looks at me, He does not see my sins and iniquities. He sees the woman of God He has called me to be. The blood of Jesus covers a multitude of sin. My question to you is, “do you truly understand what you have been forgiven for?”. Look at the standard set and realise that you have been forgiven much (just take sometime to stop and think). It includes the little white lies, the bad thoughts, our self-centeredness, our laziness, our disobedience, etc. Jesus was sent as our role model and no matter what religion people are, they acknowledge the sinless and perfect nature of Christ. Christians are not perfect, we are forgiven and desperate for the power of our perfect God to work in us. That’s when you realise just how much our God loves us and how amazing His grace and mercy is. He has called us Children of God. Understand the Law, you’ll begin to understand a little of the huge price that was paid.